SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC066 February 2023 - Winners announced

[EsteveCorbera]

EsteveCorbera - La Rutina Diaria
(...)
How did you do the scratching effect around 2:28?

Hello,

This effect is very easy to do with Shaperbox3.
I used the Time with a scratch effect with the Tape-stop scratch LFO and automated it so that the effect only lasts 6 seconds

[Arelem]

Hello Everyone,

Definitely a good showing this month which is good but always makes it hard to judge. This month I did get too far outside of the box but I did get to get some practice with my new microphone (Shure Beta58A). I also got a little familiar with VocalSynth to get a wider-sounding backing vocal.

Feedback

► Show Spoiler

denny7794 - There is definitely some potential here but as it is I didn't really vibe with it too much. I think the biggest thing for me was the sound selection. The drums sound a bit 'cheap keyboard drums' and the instruments are pretty cheesy. The rhythms and arrangement all work well though.

KukoBass - I feel like there is too much going on through most of the track. The short notes on the strings and the super fast hi-hats were kind of distracting and at times felt out of sync with each other. The vocals were fine and combined with everything else almost gives me more of an EDM leaning trap vibe rather than leaning hip-hop/rap but it works. I think if you worked on the arrangement a bit to give everything space it could really work.

The Exponent - Nice and polished track here, nice job. It gives off strong K-pop vibes to me. I would have liked a bit more grit in the vocals, especially given the lyrics. Or maybe start out the same but get a bit more aggressive as the song progresses.

Ronson79 - Very solid track. Only thing I would critique is that the piano gets a little lost in the chorus which makes it feel less full than other parts of the song. To me it seems like other parts of the track get louder and maybe too much compression buried the piano. Maybe some multiband sidechain could help bring it out more without affecting levels.

MellowBrowne - Great representation of trap here. The 808s were done really well. I feel like the hats are some more high end but that's about the only thing I can critique. Really well done.

EsteveCorbera - The drums suffer from sounding like cheap 'stock' samples but I like the hi-hat rolls and the main idea for the rhythm here. I don't know if it's because of the language barrier but the vocal flow feels more nursery rhyme than rap. I know you said that you had a hard time with the genre so I'm sure it's not one that you're used to. If you were to keep working on this, I would look at the types of drum sounds used in trap. It's usually very snappy snares and claps and tight, short hi-hats. The kick also sounds almost like a floor tom instead of an 808. There is for sure potential here though.

Treyt - This is your first time rapping?! Really well done. Your voice and flow remind me a little of Dan Bull (YouTuber). I don't really have any critiques. I believe the track would be considered hybrid-trap. The chorus reminds me of mid-late 2000s emo music like Abandon All Ships (just a bit less screaming lol).

canese - I know you said that you were pretty rushed but still managed to put together a real solid track. The track could definitely benefit from some mixing/mastering; some of the levels are a bit off IMO. The brass hits are kind of loud but lack impact. If they are there to be ‘big’ then I would add some more low end or maybe have some short 808 hits under them. If they are just there to accent then they could be a bit quieter.

JeroenZuiderwijk - This was a pretty solid attempt. The rhythms and rapping fit in well. I don’t feel like the sound selection really fits the genre too well though. The vocals are really distorted and difficult to understand. You did note that the mix needed work so I won’t harp on that too much.

My vote

► Show Spoiler

#1 MellowBrowne
#2 Ronson79
#3 Treyt
#4 canese
#5 The Exponent

[Mister Fox]

A friendly reminder:
We're in the final 24 hours to submit your feedback and cast your vote.


Please check post #34 regarding the feedback and voting mechanic. Please don't let yourself be put at a disadvantage by not participating (fully). The Songwriting Competition lives from the given feedback towards each other.

Outside feedback is welcome, of course.

[The Exponent]

Firstly, thanks a lot for all the feedback on my track and a big round of applause to each one of you for putting out a track Also big ups to Mr. Fox for giving us this platform to challenge our own selves and create some music!

Starting with some self reflection, I'm really happy that almost all of you found issues mostly on just the rapping/vocals and not so much with the production/genre/instrumental part of the track, that's a personal win for me already this round.

Just to clarify(although it is already evident from my track), I am not a professional musician, not a rapper, and this is my first ever vocal recording and rap performance of any sorts. Initially was intending to just submit the instrumental but challenged myself to rap on it and managed to record and add the vocals in 2-3 hours on the last day of submission. With that said, I'm happy overall with this since I quite enjoy the modern hybrid trap genre, which is fairly instrumental in nature these days.

Feedback time!

denny7794 - W$W
You track has a very eclectic vibe to it and I enjoyed the vocal bits. I would say the drums patterns and the beat is sort of Trap but more on the Drum and Bass side, but I like the kit and the programming. The other tracks are more fitting to the theme and production hence they would rate higher, but I commend your effort and would love to hear more from you, because you showed creativity on the production through the vocal processing an the unique lead sound choices. Keep it up!


KukoBass - Trapped_in_my_head
The ostinatos are quite melodic and the orchestral sounds are a very nice touch. However, this beat leans more towards the liquid drum and bass genre so I would not call this trap. But really good job with the programming, the vocal processing and sound selection/design. Mix-wise sounds good, maybe a bit more stereo placement would help with the strings, you could have also placed the vocals in the stereo field a bit more creatively, everything sounds very centered at the moment. I see you mentioned you're new, I'd say you've done a fantastic job and would love to hear more from you!


Arelem - First Wrld Problems
Really solid rapping, lyrics and a strong beat! I would say the instrumental production is a bit weaker compared to your amazing rapping and that could totally take this beat to a totally different level. It's on point genre wise and bit more polish in the mix, more variations, fills would totally make it near perfect, excellent job!


MellowBrowne - TrapHouse
Solid track overall and the most professionally produced track in this round. On point genre-wise, solid rapping, solid flow and well produced. I do agree with others that it does get a bit flat instrumentally, so some more fills/variations in the backing track would be awesome. Keep it up dude!


Ronson79 - Was
Firstly great job with the theme of the lyrics and the vocal performances are really enjoyable. I like the vibe of the track and it's very melodic. It's not really on-genre in terms of the characteristics of trap music, but you've managed to do a good job on all other fronts. Well done and keep it up!


EsteveCorbera - LaRutinaDiaria
It's a very interesting track, in itself without the genre restriction this would have placed much better. But this is not trap music in my opinion, but having said that, I like the vocal performance, the journey of this track. Really nice job otherwise!


Treyt - Captive
My favourite track of this month, I love almost everything about this! You have an amazing vocal quality and it fits the personas (announcer, rapper) really well. I find this to lean more towards the 'wave' genre (skeler and others) but I could be wrong. But this is hip-hop music and I can't wait to find you on Trap Nation soon! Well done really


canese - cannot do worse
Really nice for a rushed track, mix and sound selection/design are on point. The song is on point genre wise too. I would have loved a bit more variation in the fills/transitions as well. I was told by Mister Fox to not use acapellas from looperman so that it's fair for others, so I chose to record my own silly/soft/unprofessional version in 3 hours which basically made me place really low in this round, so I would deduct points for that just for fairness. But you've done a fantastic job otherwise and I would love to hear more music from you in the future since your taste and sound aesthetics are really good!


JeroenZuiderwijk - leegpapier
Solid track, only that the production game is a bit weak on this one. I think with a remix of this same idea, you would win with better production and execution. Everything is mostly on point so I am looking forward to hearing more from you soon and blow us all away, all the very best!

My Votes!

► Show Spoiler

#1 Treyt
#2 MellowBrowne
#3 Arelem
#4 Ronson79
#5 canese

What I learnt and advice for future-self:
- Just create, focus on the process and not the outcome. But ensure that the outcome is somewhat aligned with your end goal.
- Vocal recording, performance and production is an important area, which I need to focus on.
- Be openinded.

All the best to all of you and a big hug and a round of applause once again

[Mister Fox]

It's the 04th March 2023, 01:05 (UTC+1/CET) - the Voting Period has officially ended.

Everyone has sent in feedback and cast a vote, we therefore have no disqualification.


Please no more changes to your feedback from this point forward.
I will post the results within 2-3 days. (this is not an automated process)


Please have an eye on this thread

[Mister Fox]

Ladies and Gentlemen, here are the results of Songwriting Competition 67

The winners podium consists of:

1. @Treyt (40 pts)
2. @Arelem (37 pts)
3. @The Exponent (37 pts)

Apologies for the waiting time, this is not an automated process.

<4 participant rule is not in use (staff comments and votes, my vote would count as bonus)
We have 1 disqualification (due to lack of feedback)
We have 1 withdrawn entry (but counts as submission within the deadline)
We have 1 users still in the game that tied

• based upon pure participation votes: Arelem acquired 31pts -- The Exponent acquired 25pts -- Arelem therefore scores higher. The tie happened due to the offsets with the bonus point mechanic
• no (more) users that tied

"Sole (License) Winner" rule does not apply - 3-position Winners Podium (>= 9 participants prior to the deadline)


STATISTICS SHEET:
Overview of Submissions (PDF - updated: 05-MAR-2023, full sheet)

!

Bonus Info

Short info: I am using Wavelab 10 for batch analysis, then I manually port the CSV export to a Microsoft Excel/Open Office Calc sheet with custom layout (this is not an automated process). As pointed out in this post from SWC047 / July, Wavelab has different tolerances for dBTP max analysis compared to tools like iZotope RX, Youlean Loudness Meter, NUGEN Audio VisLM, etc. To find a common ground, I've implemented "allowed tolerances" (just like with the Mix Challenge). These are based upon allowed offsets mentioned in the white papers for EBU R128 and ITU-R BS.1770-4. Since no measurement tool is the same, to be on the save side, please export at -14,1 LUFS ILk max, and -1,1 dBTP max. As usual, I did list/analyze alternative releases (MP3s and FLAC). If you've submitted your entry in multiple file formats, the statistic sheet will focus on the uncompressed material first (WAV), then FLAC, then MP3. The higher the quality, the less possible loss on bonus points for "Loudness Specs" due to offsets introduced by a used CODEC. In this case, FLAC and MP3 are merely for information purposes.

Here are the results as chart in image form:



Thank you so much for your participation.

⚠	Moderation Message from Mister Fox
	INFORMATION: As of January 2023, I am now officially adapting the same voting mechanic as most other International Songwriting Competitions utilize. Nearly all of these games use(d) a 01 to 05 points system (top 5 entries) in some shape or form. The main difference to our game: these ones don't offer bonus points or penalty points, neither are they tiered (depending on the participant amount). I hope to get that properly sorted out in form of an extensive Rule Book update within the coming weeks. For transparency: We have a tie on the chart above (two users being at 37pts). Going by the points from participants alone (which are always used as basis for breaking up ties), @Arelem (31pts) would have scored higher than @The Exponent (25pts) by default. The draw results due to the "general bonus points" mechanic (filename, loudness specs, documentation, penalty points). This is a prime example of how your position on the chart can shift depending on how much attention you pay to the details. I am still fine-tuning the "penalty points" on the chart, as I have not found a solution yet that I like visually. Apologies for the inconvenence. An explanation on the bonus points and penalty points: @Treyt technically "re-uploaded" his entry after the deadline. In fact, while I was collecting all entries and set up the Voting Process. This was due to render issue. I thought long and hard about this, but in fairness to everyone else, I've deduced -1pt as "warning shot" for future games. We got a deadline, no more changes after that. @Arelem did not only loose out on the regular bonus point mechanic (filename and loudness specs), technically nobody could download the entry. I've removed -1pt from the final score due to this. I managed to get a copy regardless. @Ronson79 got a -1pt penalty because of not reflecting on this month's experience. I also reduced -1pt for not fully giving credit on his vocal collaboration in the documentation (as announced, this would have actually been -2pts, but this was really the only bit of information missing). Plus... the used filename technically didn't use the forum username (just as a side-note). @canese also lost -1pt for the documentation, because there were no full credits given to the Looperman a capella. (I will comment on this topic further down below) @denny7794 sadly only decided to merely post a link to the song. There was no form of documentation for the entry. I was lenient regarding the feedback/voting. While it wasn't just purely "nice track, keep up the good work", there could be way more feedback and constructive criticism. Something to consider for the future. Overall, I am a bit sad that neither KukoBass nor denny7794 got points. EsteveCorbera also only got 1pt overall. I've listened to all entries, and I consider all of them "well within given parameters" music wise. You all did a really amazing job this month. But this is how the game goes. I might give additional feedback in a follow-up post. There were amazing entries this February (some really caught me off guard even). I think the general topic for possible improvements this month is "general balance between music and vocals" (volume and EQ). I'll see what I can do, depending on my available spare-time. Which brings me to a certain elephant in the room: the used a capella by "Looperman". Since @canese didn't participate in a while, he might have overlooked the announcement and refinements in December 2022 regarding restriction on vocal sample usage. The entry also arrived on the final day of SWC066, so a longer back-and-forth during the "WIP stage" of the game wasn't possible. Actually, careful listeners might have caught that @The Exponent also utilized an a capella from Looperman. I've reached out to this user and talked about certain details. We decided on this entry still being "a WIP stage". The final version used an original recording. As a reminder for everyone: it is stated in the Rules and Guidelines (see post #006, and also the TL;DR Rules in post #003), not to mention each game thread (see post #002, which has been in the Rule Summary for years at this point), that each entry must be original work. There is even a text part regarding the topic "a capellas". The vocal recording in question was downloaded over 8700 times, and credited in over 75 productions (going by the info page on Looperman alone). While the focus of our small game is indeed "just make music", and were all here to have fun, learn and improve. Technically, this was still an unfair advantage towards all other entries, since you've already accessed something "pre-recorded" (from 2019 even). And you also didn't give full/proper credit "Kidd Loco" (documentation and/or filename in form of "feat. <vocalist>"). I will write this off as a "learning experience" type situation. You were short on time, a lot of our participants never worked in this particular genre. I really didn't want to disqualify anybody this month. But for the future, please... triple check the Rule Book. If in doubt, please reach out behind the scenes. Overall - I am super happy with this month's participation and interaction as well. I hope we can keep this up for the rest of the year, maybe even improve upon (as in: get more people involved). I noticed that you all had fun. See you folks in the next game.

License selection:

We'll now perform with the usual. Selecting licenses is handled in public. Please select one license/company out of the pool (in order of the winners podium) and mention it in this thread, then (important) please get in touch with me (via PM) with your full name, email address and your license selection.

As usual - you're not forced to pick up anything. You can pass and therefore offer more to select for the next person in line (if there is a spot existing / not available for "sole winner" mechanic). Just let all participants/winners/the staff know in a timely manner (within 5 days). Once one company has been selected, it's out of the pool for the next person on the podium.



I re-open the field for talking some more about each others' productions. If things drift a bit too off-topic, please use the General Gossip thread, or Discord.



See you in in the next challenge!


Songwriting Competition 067 (March 2023) is still in full swing. There is currently no entry.

[KukoBass]

Congrats to the winners!

Overall, I am a bit sad that neither KukoBass nor denny7794 got points.

I just wanted to say that I'm not sad about the result of my entry. Considering the very high quality of the competition, my song would not be in my Top 5 either.

What I'm really happy about is the feedback I received from you all. It is very encouraging and shows a lot of appreciation, and it will hopefully help me to improve. You all rock! Thank you so much!

[EsteveCorbera]

Thanks for your comments, they always help to improve.
Congratulations to the winners!!

Esteve

[Arelem]

Dang, I missed out on 4 points because I forgot to enable downloads . I'll have to double-check that in the future.

[Mister Fox]

Actually, not counting the penalty deduction, you "missed out" on 5 points, @Arelem.

• 1pt lost because of the filename that Soundcloud provided me.
• 2pts each for the maximum signal peak going over -1dBTP, and the loudness being higher than -14LUFS
• 1pt penalty for your entry not being downloadable without special means

Else, you would have had top spot. By just pure participation votes, you have 31pts and Treyt has 29pts. The offset is due to the bonus point mechanic.